


Feeling the Pressure

by exist2believe



Category: Coronation Street
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-21
Updated: 2014-08-21
Packaged: 2018-02-13 22:26:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,455
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2167482
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/exist2believe/pseuds/exist2believe
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <em>"Say it and mean it, so this heart learns to trust."</em>
</p><p>Kind of a missing/extended scene of Maddie's first appearance from the Christmas 2013 episode.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Feeling the Pressure

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks once again to the most wonderful [lazarus_girl](http://archiveofourown.org/users/lazarus_girl) for her encouragement and beta'ing skillz. And the title's taken from "Learn To Trust" -- another Bad Suns tune.

“Maddie! Step out the queue!”

Raising her hands in submission, Maddie turns to walk towards the exit. “Gone.”

Maddie spots Jo – all bushy hair crammed under her beanie and red in the face from cackling – waving her over to the table and empty chair next to her.

Walking over to the festively decorated table after deciding to stick around and get warm at least, Maddie settles into her seat. “Alright?”

“You deserve a treat for that show." Jo offers the red paper crown from her Christmas cracker. “Here.”

Maddie chuckles, “Ooh, nice. Thanks.”

Looking back up at the counter, they watch as Eleanor told one of the other workers to take Sally the Spud Lady to the toilet to get cleaned up. The look she shot Maddie before leaving might have been more effective if the woman didn't still have those ridiculous antlers on top of her head... or whipped cream layered on her face and matted in her hair. In fact, the sight merely kicked off another round of laughter from Maddie and Jo.

“Why do snobs like that even bother? Doesn't seem like she needs much of a reason to pat herself on the back,” Maddie wonders aloud, voice still coloured with amusement.

Jo shakes her head, “Oh, I don't think she's here by choice. Her daughter's the do-gooder. Probably dragged her mam down here, holiday spirit and all.”

Maddie glanced up at the still snickering brunette behind the counter who was talking to Eleanor before turning back to Jo, “What, you know her?”

“No, not really. I've seen her around. Helped out at a different soup kitchen I used to grab cuppa from.”

“She working on her sainthood or summat?”

“Suppose. Haven't seen her around for a while. Heard she –”

A soft, but deliberate _**ahem**_ cut into the conversation and Maddie as well as Jo looked up to see the topic of their conversation smiling down at them.

“Hi! Uh... Maddie, is it?” The girl quickly continues on, “Just wanted to bring this over. I tried to get the corner of the trifle without my mum's face imprint, but there's still almost no cream on it – for obvious reasons.”

Setting down the generous serving of Christmas dinner on the table in front of Maddie – not forgetting the fork and knife, each on either side of the plate – the brunette finally makes eye contact with her and flashes a friendly grin. “Happy Christmas!” Not waiting for a response, the girl stands and turns to head back behind the counter.

Before Maddie can even really process what just happened, she instinctively shouts out at the retreating figure of her personal waitress. “Cheers, Daughter Christmas!”

The girl looks back over her shoulder with a confused look on her face as her hand moves up to touch the red velvet hat on her head, reminding herself of what she's wearing, and closes her eyes briefly in understanding before shaking her head.

“Anyway, heard she got in some kind of accident. There was a 'get well soon' card passed about a couple times.” Continuing the conversation as if they weren't ever interrupted, Jo nods her head towards the brunette as the girl steps around the corner back into the kitchen. “Couldn't walk or summat, but she looks okay to me.”

Picking up her fork, Maddie takes the time to look over at the cheerful volunteer. Even the tatty, faded apron couldn't make the blue-eyed brunette in any way unattractive. Her mother, on the other hand – well, that was enough.

“Don't know where the girlfriend is, though.” Jo cut in, yanking Maddie out of her thoughts.

“Girlfriend?” Maddie's attention (and head) snapped back to her table mate.

“Mmm-hmm, blonde girl. Well pretty. Not a pushover like this one though,” Jo casually elaborated, seemingly focused more on arranging a small pile of chocolate biscuits. “Those two were practically joined at the hip. Guess not anymore – but don't get any ideas, you.”

A mumbled “What?” comes from behind a massive bite of roast potato – which Maddie is delighted to discover having three of on her plate.

“You don't have a chance. She'll serve you a plate of tasteless mash with a smile, sure, but she wouldn't give you the time of day after that borrowed apron comes off.”

Jo isn't trying to be harsh, she's merely stating the facts. You don't go the places they've been without losing the ability to sugarcoat things. There's no such thing as 'good' just 'less bad'. Maddie knows this, so she shovels a heap of veg into her mouth and shrugs. “Calm down, Jo. Not like I were picturing us holding hands in a grassy field or anything. Besides, I got three roast potatoes and a nice serving of trifle. Think I should quit while I'm ahead, eh?”

Jo chuckles at that and raises her beige plastic cup in salute to Maddie before taking a sip, only to realize it's empty. “I'm gonna go...” she gestures to the punch bowl.

Nodding dismissively, Maddie replies as the other girl stands up from her chair, “Fill your boots.”

Scooping up another massive forkful of potato, Maddie stuffs it in her mouth only to hear an amused voice. “You know it's not going anywhere, right? You can take your time.”

She knows who's talking, doesn't want to look up and see the beautiful girl looking down at her. _In more ways than one_ , thinks Maddie. Instead, keeping her eyes trained on her plate, Maddie counters the point, saying, “Actually, if you eat it fast enough, you almost forget it tastes like disappointment and plastic.”

(It doesn't. It's probably the best thing she's eaten since last year's Christmas dinner.)

“Got it.” The smirking brunette places a full, plastic punch cup on the table near the plate. “Well, I brought you this to wash down the taste.”

Then she pulls the chair across from Maddie out and takes a seat with her own cup in hand.

Maddie attempts to not display how surprised she is by the girl's move and stealing a glance, it doesn't escape her notice that the girl has taken off her apron. She's off-duty.

“You know, I could've been saving that seat for someone,” Maddie points out whilst pushing some vegetables back and forth with her fork, the sound of metal against plastic barely audible over the festive clamor of the canteen.

“Were you?” The girl takes a sip from her cup, looking very much comfortable where she is, to Maddie's internal dismay (and simultaneous delight).

Jo finally notices the newcomer to the table from her position at the punch bowl and, after catching Maddie's eye, pointedly stares at both the girls in turn. The expression on her face practically screams _'You've got to be kidding me. What did I **just** say?'_

Smirking into her plate, Maddie finally answers her self-invited companion. “No. Said I could've been.”

The slightly terse reply doesn't seem to faze the other girl. “Thought I'd come keep you company. No one should be on their own for the holiday.”

And there it was. Pity. Maddie's smug look falls right off her face, shifting into something resembling a sneer. “What's your name anyway?”

“Oh, sorry. I'm Sophie.” She even offers up her free hand for an introductory shake – to which Maddie rolls her eyes and ignores.

Instead, Maddie unceremoniously drags her chair around the table to sit alongside the girl, deciding to see how much entertainment she could get from the naïve and patronizing volunteer.

With a shade of derision, Maddie scoffs, “Have you come to be my saviour, Sophie?”

Sophie chuckles lightly, "Do you need one?"

"You tell me. Isn't that why you're sitting here?" Maddie challenges, settling back into her seat and taking a long swallow of her drink.

"I just wanted to talk. To you," Sophie places her cup on the table and sets her hands in her lap as she thinks about how to continue the conversation. "Like... what brings you here?"

"Read the reviews of this place. Decided to give it a try," Maddie gives Sophie a sarcastic wink. "Five star dining."

"Okay, stupid question." Sophie's eyes drop to watch her hands as she anxiously sweeps invisible lint off her black jeans.

Sophie's nervousness unsettles Maddie. She can't gauge the other girl's authenticity or understand why she's interested in - or about _her_ , specifically. Against her individualist tendencies, she decides to humour the brunette.

Softening her tone a little, Maddie offers an out to their conversation. "Do you really want to know where I've been? It's kind of a long story."

As Sophie looks up and her expression brightens, Maddie practically feels her heart jump even before she hears the answer to her question.

"I've got time."

**Author's Note:**

> Yes, the "I've got time" is a future throwback(?) to Maddie saying it to Sophie in the cafe when they were talking about Jenna. I've always liked the way Amy delivers that line strangely enough.


End file.
